Personally Pretentious Prattle.

September 04, 2007

Book: Get Smarter.

We took a brief hop out to Edmonton this weekend for a family wedding. On the flight over, I read Seymour Schulich's book Get Smarter: Life and Business Lessons.

Schulich, a fairly well-known Canadian businessman and philanthopist, wrote this as a wide-ranging book of advice for people in their 20s and 30s, particularly those with entrepreneurial or leadership inclinations. The reviews I'd seen have commented that unlike most business books with one or two decent take-away lessons, this one probably has a dozen or two. I'd definitely agree with that.

Most refreshing as compared with most business books is that it's written in a very straightforward, to the point way. With the average chapter being 4-6 pages (and the first of those being a cartoon), this is not an academic thesis by any means. I guess that's the benefit of being very successful, you don't feel the need to justify things so much.

A quick read, and many practical ideas to adopt or consider, this one is a no-brainer to recommend to people, especially those in the target audience of younger professionals.